Field of the Invention
One or more embodiments of the invention are related to the field of extraction of substances from plant material. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable a system and method for producing a terpene-enhanced cannabinoid concentrate from cannabis plant material.
Description of the Related Art
Several methods for extracting cannabinoids from cannabis plant material are known in the art. A limitation of many of these methods is that the terpenes in the cannabis plant are often lost or greatly reduced in the final extracted product. While cannabinoids provide a major element of the medicinal or psychoactive effect of cannabis, the many terpenes in the cannabis plant also contribute significantly to the plant's properties.
Cannabis processors have explored techniques to simultaneously extract cannabinoids and preserve terpenes, with limited success. Processes and parameters that are optimal for cannabinoid extraction may be ineffective for terpene extraction, and vice-versa. Moreover, tuning the ratio of terpenes to cannabinoids is difficult or impossible when attempting to extract both simultaneously. A potential solution to these difficulties, which is not known in the art, is to combine separate procedures for terpene extraction and cannabis extraction, and to blend the outputs of these procedures into a final product. This approach allows optimal processes and parameters to be used for each step, and it provides maximum flexibility for the composition of the final blend. There are no known methods that use such an approach to generate a terpene-enhanced cannabinoid concentrate. In addition, the only method known in the art for terpene extraction is steam distillation, which extracts a limited profile of terpenes because it is water based. There is a need for combining a more effective terpene extraction process with a blending process that combines terpenes and cannabinoids.
For at least the limitations described above there is a need for a system and method for producing a terpene-enhanced cannabinoid concentrate.